Chapter Text
Hoshina Soushirou takes no small amount of pride in his recent position as Vice Captain of the Third Division. Ashiro Mina is an awe-inspiring woman, and it’s an absolute honor to be her choice of right-hand man.
Despite the strength of his colleagues, though, there’s an ever-growing threat of kaiju with increasing fortitude.
The First Division is starting to falter under the pressure. Captain Shinomiya is a legend of a man, but old age is slowly creeping up on him, combined with the constant usage of his Numbers Weapon.
There’s a buzz of worry that lately has been increasing in volume about who could be enough to fill out the void that Shinomiya will leave behind when he eventually has to step down.
They’re lagging behind. Can’t keep up with the relentless surge of kaiju.
Soushirou knows that the Force isn’t using enough resources to cover the full scope of Japan. He knows that there are areas that call for aid and don’t get it fast enough to stop the village from getting levelled.
The government encourages people to move inwards, into the cities where the Defense Force reigns strong, but treasured homes and villages that have survived generations are hard to separate people from. Not to mention the cost. It’s not necessarily that they’ve been ordered to put lower priority on the outskirts of their jurisdictions, but their lacking coverage has certainly not been criticised by the government either.
The general public has also been fairly forgiving whenever an attack leaves a faraway village levelled to the ground, whenever a smaller town loses a building or two before the Force has managed to dispatch suitable soldiers for the case.
At least, until the past year.
He wasn’t made aware of the mysterious man that fights kaiju with seemingly no equipment while streaming it online until it started reaching mainstream media and the interest around him started growing.
Apparently, the man was part of the Defense Force at some point. Apparently, he didn’t like what he saw despite his skills, and left when he was given the option to step in line or leave.
Apparently, he’s been telling his followers that he travels to the outskirts of various Divisions’ jurisdictions specifically because he thinks the Force isn’t doing its job properly.
And infuriatingly, embarrassingly, this random rogue operative is right.
Soushirou suspects that the man must’ve left with some sort of stolen monitoring equipment. Probably the software with access to their radars and measurements of seismic activity, if he’d take an educated guess.
Which, if true, makes him wonder what kind of mind for strategy and analytics the man must possess to directly compete with the Force’s own operators, and what he’d done for the Force to be willing to let him go. Maybe he hadn’t been on the road to become an active duty soldier, maybe he’d been part of one of the intelligence divisions despite his clear fighting prowess and breached security conduct.
Soushirou has no idea, but the facts at hand are that this guy somehow manages to show up exactly where he needs to be to stop a kaiju from attacking a small town or village, sometimes being days’ worth of travel away from the previous location, despite having none of the Force’s resources.
Somehow he manages to act before the Force has even started sending soldiers.
And the public has started noticing.
There has been a recent push within the Force to broaden their monitoring, to start to calculate the movements of potential kaiju groups and actually send out more patrols to risk-areas.
It’s exactly why the Tenth Division gets caught on livestream, right as the rogue wraps up his last kill. It’s how Captain Haruta gets caught on camera getting disarmed with ease by what supposedly is a civilian and then turned down with nonchalance.
Right after the impromptu meeting, Captain Haruta reports in and suggests trying to intercept the streamer at nearby towns to try to offer him a spot in the Force again. He highlights the strength and the ease of which the man decapitated a kaiju without a combat suit, raving about how he could be the soldier they need. Haruta also highlights the seemingly countless injuries and clear signs of malnourishment, asking the higher ups to consider what this nameless guy could be if he also was in top condition.
So, of course, it turns out that the streamer is dead-serious when he says that he’ll go off grid to shake off JAKDF’s watchful eyes by the end of his stream, promptly doing exactly that.
For days, he doesn’t show up at any of the nearby cities, doesn’t post, doesn’t stream, doesn’t share his location. Nothing. He might’ve died in the wilderness, for all that they know.
Then there’s another stream. The man looks cosy, despite the face covering, as he gushes about the luxury of home-cooked food while playing a game for hours. The man also talks a bit about his ‘hike’, and Hoshina’s eyebrows climb to his hairline when he nonchalantly talks about wilderness survival, followed by animal rights.
Hoshina, admittedly, watches the entire stream. For research-purposes, of course.
It has nothing to do with the fact that the man has a pleasant voice and is surprisingly very easy to tease funny reactions out of. Hoshina makes an account and donates without thinking about it, telling the man that he’s shit at the game he’s playing. He laughs in delight when the streamer bristles and swears, while still profusely thanking him for the donation. It’s devastatingly endearing.
By the end of it, he’s definitely inclined to agree with Captain Haruta. He also thinks that Twitch-streamer ‘genesis1’ might be the new perspective that the Defense Force desperately needs.
After that stream, the man is seemingly on the move again. He posts pictures of nature on his Instagram, and seemingly argues with random followers on Twitter. He’s definitely a character. It’s also incredibly difficult to tell where he's going, even if they track the location of where the posts were made.
It’s why Soushirou almost stumbles over his own feet when he comes face to face with the man himself.
***
Soushirou’s doing the long drive home from his family’s estate and a yearly clan meeting, when his earpiece goes off and he’s informed about a train getting derailed by a kaiju attack that their sensors apparently had missed.
He just so happens to be fairly near the incident and can get there way earlier than anyone dispatching from Tachikawa. He floors it, listening intently to any updates about the creatures he’ll face. He’s lucky he has his combat suit and equipment stowed away in the trunk and skids to a halt, making the quick-change before he’s off in a sprint to close the distance to the train and neutralize the threats.
“I- I think the radars might be getting unreliable information. Two kaiju signatures have disappeared. We believe they’re mole-types, so they might’ve burrowed down again and disrupted the readings somehow,” Okonogi warns with a note of hesitation in her voice.
It’s him, an insane part of Soushirou’s brain supplies while the logical part of him shuts that thought down immediately. They’re far, far away from where ‘genesis1’ last posted a picture.
As he runs, Okogoni tells him that a third kaiju signature has disappeared, soon followed by a fourth. He asks if any operative is active in the area and she tells him that no equipment besides his own is near.
A fifth disappears after a longer pause, leaving two remaining signatures.
Then the train comes into view, he sucks in a deep breath and shoots off into the air with a powered jump. He draws his swords as he vaults over the train and proceeds to cleave the nearest mole kaiju in half. He zeroes in on the last one directly and makes mince meat out of that one as well.
Then he turns to take in the dead bodies of the five other kaiju. Okonogi warned him about their fortitude. A regular soldier wouldn’t even have been able to dispose of one of these alone with their equipment.
Despite that fact, he turns and sees a lone man leaning heavily on what looks like one of the claws from the mole kaiju. He’s not wearing anything to cover his face or hair.
It’s him, he realizes as he takes off running towards what he’s starting to think is the streamer that has the entire Defense Force in a chokehold.
Intelligent eyes stare at him approaching. Soushirou sees something that looks like relief pass over his expression, before an all too familiar voice speaks up.
“I had ‘em,” the steamer slurs and immediately starts toppling over.
Soushirou catches him just in time to feel him go limp.
“Oh shit,” he swears and turns his comms back on.
“Okonogi, please tell me emergency services are on the way,” he says and breathes a sigh of relief when the Operator confirms that they’re en route and closing in.
“Y’know the streamer that is goin’ viral for killin’ kaiju with no equipment?” He asks, carefully gathering the man up in his arms to carry him towards the train to get a look into how many people need assistance.
“I don’t think anyone hasn’t heard of him by now,” Okonogi sighs. “Why are you bringing him up?”
“Guess who neutralized five kaiju before I got here,” Soushirou says and earns a choked noise of shock from his friend.
“You met him?”
“I’m actually carryin’ his passed out ass in my arms as we speak,” Soushirou quips and glances down at the other man. He looks younger than one would expect from skills like his and he’s.. actually really cute. At least if one looks past all the blood, gore and grime he’s covered in. “He needs medical attention.”
When he arrives at the train, he notes that people have started climbing out of it, helping each other out.
“Emergency services are on the way,” he calls out to the growing crowd. At least it wasn’t a packed train this late in the evening. “Is anyone stuck or needs help movin’?”
He takes note of the carts being pointed at and is glad that it mostly seems like some broken bones for those that didn’t manage to brace themselves in time at worst. He hears sires in the distance and sighs in relief.
Someone approaches with two bags.
“He was travelling with this,” the young woman says and gives the man in his arms a grateful look. “Thank you for saving us, and please tell him thanks as well. Those kaiju would’ve gotten to the train if he hadn’t interfered.”
“Thanks for getting his bags. I’ll make sure he gets the medical attention and praise he deserves,” Hoshina nods.
Then the area lights up with helicopters and the sound of ambulances and firetrucks approaches quickly.
He gets the streamer loaded on a stretcher, then has to refocus on directing help to victims in need.
When every part of the train has been cleared of victims, he finally says his goodbye and is directed to the hospital where the injured are being taken. He quickly goes back to his car, carrying a stranger’s belongings and follows to the hospital.
***
Soushirou knows he’s in for a long night when he slumps down in the waiting room to await any news on the hero of the night’s incident.
He has already reported back about everything that has occurred. Okonogi knows exactly where he is and so does Mina. They both agree that it’s of utmost importance to try to talk to the mysterious man that has been stumping them all.
It takes another couple of hours for Soushirou to get called to the room where they keep the man. He gets a rundown of fractured ribs and deep gashes from the fight, then feels a creeping sense of nausea when the doctor just keeps going. Countless injuries in various states of healing, signs of shoddily done stitches and bones that never healed quite right. Then there’s the suspected malnutrition, or rather, signs of active starvation.
Then, curiously, signs of too rapid healing.
The doctor suggests doing a much deeper investigation into his cellular activity and every scan known to man, but they can’t do anything without the man’s consent. So for now, only first aid and the most recent injuries have been treated.
Soushirou slumps down in the chair by the bed with a sigh and lets his red eyes roam over the supine and still body of ‘genesis1’.
Now that they’ve removed the blood from his face, Soushirou takes his time to truly look at the man.
Regretfully, he concludes that the guy is stupidly attractive, despite the slight hollowness of his cheeks and matted hair.
After about an hour, the man startles awake with a gasp, followed by a wince and a hand immediately going to his ribs.
There’s confusion on his face as he blinks his eyes open again slowly to stare up at the plain white ceiling. His brows furrow as he pats around his body with a hand, poking at the mattress and pillow, then the blanket.
Eyes that Soushirou now learns are burgundy snap to him when he shifts in his chair and there they stay locked in a stalemate for a moment, both frozen in place.
“I had those last two,” the streamer breaks the silence by saying. Despite it being entirely unprofessional, it draws a startled laugh out of Soushioru.
“Yeah? I’m sure ya did, considerin’ ya up and passed out in my arms the moment I approached,” Soushirou counters.
The man’s eyes slowly trail over his figure and Soushirou tries to not shift under the appraising gaze. He decides to interrupt it by pointing at the bags by his feet.
“One of the victims decided to save your stuff from the wreckage. She wanted me to extend her thanks to ya for savin’ their lives,” he says. The other man’s gaze snaps to the bags and blatant relief flashes over his face.
“Shit, I’m glad. Would’ve been hell to try to replace,” the man mutters and runs a hand through his messy hair.
Silence washes over the room again, save for the steady beating of the heart monitor. The streamer is studying him with apprehension.
“So.. why are you here?” The man asks. “Did the Force send you to try to convince me to join up again?”
Soushirou tries his best to keep the wince on the inside.
“I was actually in the area when it went down. I had no idea ya were there until I actually came face to face with ya,” he replies. He decides that being fully honest is probably the best approach. “I’d be lyin’ if I said the Defense Force isn’t growin’ increasingly interested in ya though.”
The man nods at that, chewing on his lip in thought.
“Do ya have a name, or am I gonna have to keep callin’ ya ‘genesis1’ or ‘that guy’ in my head?” Soushirou dares asking.
The guy snorts.
“How much have you guys figured out about me so far?”
“They’re tryin’ to narrow down the applicants and cadets from every Division between two to five years ago, seein’ if someone matches the little information ya have shared on stream,” Soushirou shrugs, while still keeping an eye on any reaction. “Considerin’ ya did say ya got discharged for insubordination, I imagine there aren’t all too many candidates.”
“Huh, I would’ve thought you’d have my name by now,” the streamer chuckles. “I guess I wasn’t as big of a deal that they tried to make me out to be at the start, then.”
Soushirou leans forward in intrigue, resting his elbows on his thighs.
“Ya stood out as a candidate?”
“You can quit trying to sneakily get enough info to report back. Name’s Narumi Gen,” Narumi says with a smirk.
Soushirou sits up straighter.
Because, the thing is, he has heard that name before.
Because, just a year ago, Captain Shinomiya of the First Division said that he’d step down as Captain if Narumi Gen comes back. It was in a meeting with Captains and higher ups across the Force. Soushirou had been standing by Ashiro’s chair like a silent shadow, just like all other Vice Captains.
Holy shit, he thinks.
“Ya don’t happen to know Captain Shinomiya, do ya?” He asks.
Narumi raises a brow and cocks his head in thought. Now that Soushirou finally sees him unmasked, he can’t help but think that his audience is missing out on how expressive this man is.
“You mean the old man of the First? Yeah, he told me to apply when he saw me kill a kaiju at seventeen. He took me to a lab to do some tests about raw uni-organ compatibility, said I was the most promising talent he’d seen, asked me to apply again. After a year of stalling I figured ‘why not’, did basic training and got dismissed by some sourly fuck that didn’t like that I was better than them and didn’t follow their dumbass orders. Never saw the old man after I applied, so I figured it was just recruitment tactics.”
Narumi shrugs after the spiel, looking nonchalant about the entire thing. Meanwhile, Soushirou feels his jaw drop.
Suddenly, a years-old mystery gets solved by the mystery itself.
He wonders if the Division that dismissed Narumi even knew that Shinomiya was placing his bets on this man.
“Can I ask which Division ya did trainin’ with?”
“Third, if I remember correctly,” Narumi shrugs again, and Soushirou groans, putting his face in his hands.
“Fuckin’ hell,” Soushirou swears, then looks up at the other man. Narumi looks more intrigued now. “This is gonna sound like bullshit if ya decide that’s what ya want to hear and I can’t change that, so I’m just gonna come right out and say it.”
Narumi raises his brows and motions for him to continue.
“The Third’s Captain and Vice got replaced the moment Ashiro Mina had enough field experience to justify promotin’ her to Captain. It turns out they had a thing for brushin’ some shit under the rug and not reportin’ properly before we did a full audit of the Third Division. We took over the division ‘round three years ago,” Soushirou sighs and rubs his hands over his face. “Narumi, I think it’s entirely possible that Shinomiya genuinely was interested in gettin’ ya to the First Division, but that the previous leadership in the Third didn’t report it properly, then dismissed ya without givin’ other Divisions a shot at pickin’ ya up instead.”
It’s clearly not what Narumi expects to hear, because the man seems to freeze to the point where he stops breathing. Then he thaws just as quickly and chokes out a raspy laugh.
“I’ll admit,” Narumi says. “That’s a better recruitment pitch than what the Tenth gave me.”
Soushirou’s breath catches.
“I can’t say for sure it happened like that unless we investigate, but I’ve.. admittedly heard your name before. Specifically from Captain Shinomiya. He hasn't forgotten ya.”
At that, Narumi gives him a non-committal hum with a nod.
“So, when can I leave?” He asks instead of acknowledging any of what Soushirou has told him.
“They wanted to monitor ya over the night. Currently it’s too late to discharge yourself,” Soushirou supplies.
Another hum. Then:
“Considering you brought me here, I hope you’re ready to cover the medical bill,” Narumi says. “Or I’m gonna have to plan my daring escape really fucking soon, which I really don’t want to do with busted ribs.”
Soushirou suddenly gets reminded of the man’s delight at the concept of just.. a warm meal. He gets reminded of the fact that he called staying at an inn with hot water ‘treating himself’, and the fact that his body is showing clear signs of starvation. He thinks of Narumi’s relief the moment he found out that his bags had been retrieved and the mention that he wouldn’t have been able to replace anything in them.
And now this final puzzle piece, the answer to why he avoids hospitals like the plague in his streams.
“Oh shit, you’re homeless aren’t ya?”
Narumi gives him a look. And, alright, maybe it isn’t the smoothest thing to blurt out, but now he desperately needs to know. He stays silent and meets the other man’s gaze straight on.
The streamer is the first to avert his gaze, once again running his hand through his hair.
“I’m honestly surprised more people haven’t figured it out,” he says, which is all the confirmation Soushirou needs.
“If the JAKDF doesn’t immediately jump on the opportunity to show ya goodwill, I’ll cover it,” he says, immediately. “So just relax and let ‘em treat ya, alright? I’ve got ya.”
Narumi turns back and meets his eyes, squinting at him as if looking for a lie. When he seemingly doesn’t find anything, his eyes turn glassy and his lip wobbles dangerously. The streamer quickly slumps back against the pillow and throws an arm over his face.
Soushirou abruptly realizes that his heart probably can’t take it if Narumi Gen cries.
He clears his throat and desperately looks for something to say.
“Have ya gotten any better at that skate game ya were playin’ durin’ the last stream?” He asks.
He watches Narumi’s mouth quirk up a little as the man barks out a hoarse laugh. “You watched that shit? Why? Trying to gauge information from my game ramblings?”
“At first, but then I decided that it was funnier teasin’ ya. Hope ya enjoyed those 1000 yen I sent over just to see ya look indignant when I called ya a shit gamer,” Soushirou blurts out, desperate to keep the light atmosphere.
“That was you?” Narumi’s cautious smile grows wider, but also shakier. When he speaks next, his voice wobbles. “I- Yeah, actually. That’s, like, a full meal. So, thanks. Like, really,” he says. Sincerely, and all.
Soushirou considers bashing his head against the wall. What was he even thinking, implying that money like that is nothing to him? Right after confirming the man is literally homeless? He’s such an asshole, holy shit.
He’s quickly learning that he’s a disaster around attractive guys that make his heart bleed, apparently.
In the end, the two of them manage to get some lighter banter going before Narumi drifts off again. Before that happens, though, he manages to offer his number and couch to the other man, insisting that it’ll be there for him if he ever needs it, even if he decides against joining the Force.
Soushirou then goes to sort out payments for Narumi’s stay, telling them to send the bill of any and all necessary expenses to the Third Division.
Narumi’s still out cold by the time he’s back, and he regretfully realizes that he really has to go. Before he leaves, though, he stops by the vending machine in the corridor to grab some water bottles, snacks to sneak into the other’s bag alongside a few thousand yen. He gets his hands on a post-it note and pen from the receptionist as well, writing a reminder for him to take care of himself.